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GOP cranking up suppression efforts

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I recently needed an original copy of my birth certificate. Since I was born in Glendale, Calif., I had to write to Los Angeles County to get the document. It took several phone calls to determine the procedure to apply for a new birth certificate and then a month to actually receive the document.

Other people may face discrimination under voter ID laws, even if they have driver’s licenses. A recently married woman may not have obtained a driver’s license in her new name, and if she has done so, she may not have changed her name on the voter registration rolls. Additionally, Hispanic names on registration rolls may differ from Hispanic names on official documents because the family name often is placed in the middle rather than at the end, as it would be on registration rolls.

Requiring proof of citizenship in order to register to vote is likewise flawed. As discussed above, it is often time-consuming and expensive to obtain an original birth certificate. Some rural counties may not even have good birth records, particularly for elderly African-Americans from the South. It should be enough that voters are subject to prosecution if they falsely swear that they are citizens in order to register.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests as ruses meant to prevent minorities from registering and voting. Let’s hope states will resist the temptation to bring them back in another form, even if it is approved by a Republican-dominated Supreme Court.

Martin Frost, a Democrat, represented the Dallas-Fort Worth area from 1979 to 2005. He rose to caucus chairman and head of the DCCC. He is now an attorney with Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC in Washington and serves as president of America Votes, a grass-roots voter mobilization and education effort.

Readers' Comments (23)

Please, even I support making it mandatory for everyone who votes to have to show an approved form of identification, whats so difficult about that. If you want to vote, get on down to the department of motor vehicles and you can get a proper state Id card at the very least. Come on quite making excuses, and just do it. To say that we should not even ask for such ID is just plain silly. Only US citizens should be allowed to vote, hence you need to have proper ID. Quite making excuses for those that are either to lazy to get ID or just don't care enough to vote.

Well said, TMR. It isn't that difficult to get an ID. Usually when you are hired by an employer, you are required to show some form of ID and/or proof of citizenship... why should voting require less responsibility? When you drive a car, you need a license. When you travel, you need to obtain a passport. When you get a job, normally you are required to provide proof of citizenship and/or tax info. When you get married, you need to provide documentation. The reason for all this paperwork is to prevent dishonesty/fraud and enhance safety and organization, among many other things. Sorry, but to make the excuse that it is "too difficult" to obtain the required identification seems to me that the individual is too lazy. Poll taxes and literacy tests are completely different than a required ID. In a day and age when elections are so close, I want to ensure that no dishonesty is allowed to influence the outcome.

Any mandatory state ID hinders some persons' ability to vote...for no particular reason. No state has shown to have a problem with voter fraud. The dissenting opinion was clear on that point. Where is the problem that an ID law addresses? If there are valid quesions about the voters eligibility, states have the ability to require a provisional ballot.

Actually, Washington State has experienced a significant problem with voter fraud. Our current "governor select" Chris Gregroire was elected on the third re-count (after losing on the first two). Heavily Democratic Seattle/King County "discovered" additional "over-looked" ballots in a back storeroom before each "recount." Gregroire finally won by less than 200 votes. The Republicans filed a lawsuit alleging the convicted felons, illegal aliens, and and ineligible voters voted. The court essentially agreed, but because the Republicans couldn't prove that the ineligible voters favored Gregroire, the outcome of the election remained in place. A mandatory picture ID and periodic purging of the voter roles would go a long way to eliminate the kind of widespread fraud we've experienced here in the "other" Washington.

You don't understand, the elderly may have fought WWI and lived through the Depression, but geting a drivers license or ID is just too hard. As for minorities, they are just as smart and capable as whites, they can go to college, become doctors, scientists and professors but they cannot get ID by themselves. The only way that they can get proper ID is with the help of a new Federal bureaucracy employing thousands of unionized government workers,

Of course, the GOP is working full steam ahead to commit voter fraud anyway they can. How sorry this party has become. People who do not drive can go to the driver's license bureau and have just a photo ID made. You do not have to drive a vehicle to get the ID. My mother never drove but did get the ID to use for writing checks and any other situation calling for one. We can't allow voter suppression and fraud to take place and end up with McCain as president because of corruption in the election process. I do trust that Obama is one step ahead of them. He is one sharp guy. GOP = Corruption. We sure don't need another republican president going in with corruption his first priority.

Where did you read that Democrats were denying votes? I'm curious. Republicans did it in 2000. Speaking of purging, did any of you watch the movie Recount on HBO? It was pretty eye opening. I'd be embarrassed to call myself a Republican after that and seeing what we have in office as a result.

Is it customer suppression when Blockbuster asks me to show an ID to go with my membership card? Is it customer suppression when TSA asks me to show ID to board a plane? Is it customer suppression when Macy's asks that I show my ID to match it to my credit card when I make a purchase? This isn't the 1920's and people can't get "to town" to get an ID. People have ID's today. It's pretty easy and in most places when it expires you can get a new ID by mail and there are more forms of ID than just a driver's license. The "there's no case of fraud every happening" argument is weak too. We ask people to practice prevention against: colds, sexual diseases, car theft, home disasters, death (life insurance), and a whole host of things, but when it comes to A VOTE it's all of the sudden "ohh, no we don't need to prevent against fraud" or anything that could be a disaster.

I'm all for voter ID laws, if the states are willing to put in place a mechanism to waive fees to obtain birth certificates and such for people who can't really afford one. These people who argue that it's not a hardship have obviously never spend time in areas where people decide between medical care and food, or put just enough gas in the car to get to work and hope they'll be able to again tomorrow. I spent the first few years of my career knocking doors in the rurals and the ghettos, and I can promise you that many people live like that, through no fault of their own. of course, a lot of other people live like that because of their own poor choices. But either way, you try to live on minimum wage for a year while prices for everything skyrocket, and then come back and tell me you can afford it. Until you don't have to pay money in order to vote, let's call a spade a spade. And about Washington state: Every one of those ineligible voters swore, under penalty of felony prosecution, that they had no reason to think they couldn't vote. The obvious solution is to prosecute those individuals. We could always try enforcing current laws before piling more on, right? I mean, if suddenly states started prosecuting those people, I think we'd see a lot less fraud, too, without putting out honest voters who just happen to also be poor.

Nice headline. "GOP cranking up suppression efforts" how about "DEMS fighting for illegal voters" This is the 21st century, if you live in this country and don't have valid ID you have a problem. You can't fly, rent a car or cash a check without ID. The only concievable reason for not favoring ID to vote, is to encourage voter fraud.

Requiring proof of citizenship in order to register to vote is likewise flawed. As discussed above, it is often time-consuming and expensive to obtain an original birth certificate

Sorry to inconvenience you for such a small small thing as voting! C'omon - How hard can it be to show and have ID? If a person cannot generate enough neurons to get an ID, are you sure we really need them voting?

LOL! This article is complete bulls**t. Yet another liberal whining about "voter suppression" when it's the Democrats who regularly make a habit of padding the voter rolls with fraudlent names so that illegal aliens can vote for their candidates. Requiring voters to produce some positive form of identification to vote is only common sense ... which no doubt explains why the Democrats are against it.

Ummm ... Swedish Gal, that was a made-for-TV movie, OK? Not a documentary. And when you consider that the vast majority of Hollywood is very leftist in their political orientation, it's not at all surprising that they would portray the Republicans negatively in a movie about the 2000 election.

Like it or not, Bush won the presidency fair & square according to the rules that are in place. The Democrats are still whining about it 7 1/2 years later. But then again, that's what Democrats do best: whine.